Pea protein allergy plus vegan diet

2016-09-17

I had some time off work this past week which has been absolutely great! The weather has been summer-like until today. I’ve basically had the house to myself, most days, what more can I ask for 🙂 I’m getting some cooking and baking done. I’ve also come to a decision about vegan products that I buy at the grocery store and use in cooking. With all the allergies in my household and the fact that half of us eat a plant-based diet, I have to be a lot more vigilante with what I buy at the grocery store which means no more pea protein listed as an ingredient!

I’ve decided I’m not going to use any copycat vegan products anymore in cooking for the family. Why? Well things like “cheese-like” products usually have a lot of ingredients and they are usually, but not always, made with soy or pea protein. My daughter who is nineteen just had allergy testing done again. The results are… that she has a lot of food allergies. But, what was interesting is that green peas didn’t cause a reaction in her during the testing. When she was a young child she started to have allergic reactions to green peas and products that pea protein was listed as an ingredient. Since she has become vegan, in her late teens, she has been able to eat certain products with pea protein listed as an ingredient without any reaction. This week I made this Jamie Oliver recipe, Aubergine Lasagna, and used Daiya cheese instead of the regular cheese that the recipe called for and she couldn’t eat it! She’s been eating Daiya products without any issues and now all of a sudden she can’t. Pea protein is listed as an ingredient. We have a feeling it’s because she was in Greece for two weeks at the end of August and while there she didn’t eat any processed foods. The same thing with Vegenaise the egg-free sandwich spread. She was eating that without any reaction before she went to Greece and now she has a reaction. Pea protein is also listed as an ingredient.

So, basically what I’m saying is that I’m not going to make a “lasagna”. My lasagna will be called something like a casserole and I’m not going to even attempt to use cheese copycats purchased from the grocery store. If she could eat cashews, I’d definitely make something like a cheese-like sub from that, but, unfortunately she’s allergic to those. I’ve made several things that everyone loves now and we don’t miss the “cheese” consistency at all. One recipe that I’ve made over and over again is this Creamy Vegan Lasagna Sauce. I’ve made my version of mac and cheese with elbow macaroni and this delicious sauce over it. It’s quick and easy and tastes so comforting. I embellish the sauce various ways depending on what I pour it over and everyone loves it.

I’ll still buy Daiya cheese products for myself! One of my favourite treats is tortilla chips with chopped green onions, a generous sprinkling of Daiya cheese over top, melted, and then guacamole and salsa. Yum!!

Being vegan can be tricky at times, but, for someone with allergies to peas, soy, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, lentils, and chick peas it can be a real struggle. But, that’s only if eating out. At home it isn’t an issue at all and we usually don’t think twice about it. We have just adapted and make great healthy dishes most of the time 🙂

We make a lot of salads. This one was a particularly good one with a black beans and a chili lime vinaigrette.

This was Jamie Oliver’s Aubergine Lasagna that I made and that caused the fresh allergy commotion at our house. I’m going to make a version of it again, but, I’ll use another type of sauce over it, because, it was really good!

This is the mozzarella style shreds that I used for the lasagna. I’ll continue to buy this product for myself for my occasional indulgence like I mentioned, but, my daughter can’t eat this at all because of the pea protein.

Sometimes people think that we, and especially my daughter, are missing out on really great tasting food. They wonder how we can keep up with a plant-based diet. It’s easy! I’ve learned to enjoy cooking and baking so much more. I find really great and much healthier alternatives for entrees and desserts that I never imagined possible. I just made these rice crispy treats that are so good and no one would think, if they tried these, that we are missing out on anything. The recipe for these Almond Butter Brown Rice Crispy Treats is on Love and Lemons blog. I have found so many great food blogs, vegan blogs, plant-based eating blogs and YouTube channels with so many interesting recipes to try.

I’ve just discovered that you can make something similar to the taste and texture of ricotta out of almonds! I can’t wait to try making this as it’s one of the nuts we can have in our family. Should be interesting!

Do you have any experience with pea protein allergies?

I’d love to hear from you! It’s been one of the strangest allergies in my home. I fed my kids peas when they were young and they loved them. Now this back and forth with the reaction to peas is odd, as well as the fact that it doesn’t show up with allergy testing in a clinical setting.